Merry Christmas

The SoxandPhils family is eagerly awaiting Santa's arrival for Trent's first Christmas. We'll be busy doing holiday stuff for the next few days, but we'll update with any SoxandPhils goodies we find under the tree as soon as we can.

Merry Christmas to all. We hope your Santa delivers like Theo Epstein and Ruben Amaro Jr.

Tickets

Our six pack of Phillies tickets arrived last week. It's a good thing we ordered early because the Cliff Lee signing has made hard-to-get tickets even harder to get. I'd like to meet the guy who says, "There's no way I can afford to splurge a couple hundred dollars on a team with three aces, but add a fourth and I'm so there!"

Nonetheless, we're convinced that despite our 80 percent chance of seeing an ace, assuming the hosses stay healthy, on any of the six games we go to, we'll still wind up seeing Joe Blanton more than once.

And, we've already hit a scheduling snafu. We weren't planning on bringing Trent to Citizens Bank Park this year. We were going to have him work his way up through the minors (Camden, Trenton or Lakewood) before going to the majors.

But his grandmom promised her other grandchild a visit on a weekend we picked for a game. So Trent will get his first taste of the Phanatic this spring.

We were planning on him meeting the Phanatic last Saturday at a Phillies store event, but we backed out when we learned the calendar Christine wanted isn't yet available (they needed to replace the month scheduled for Dennys Reyes). We decided that without that reason to go to the park on a cold morning, it probably wasn't worth waiting in line with an infant to see Phanta Claus. Maybe next year.

Hotcakes to go and other bullpen matters

I didn't think that my favorite newly acquired SoxandPhil would be Cliff Lee, Adrian Gonzalez or Carl Crawford.

Nope, I thought it would be Dennys Reyes. But a funny thing happened on his way to becoming the next El Guapo in my eyes - his deal with the Phillies fell through:

"We hit a snag," said Oscar Suarez, who is Reyes' agent. "So we just decided to push back."

Asked if it was health related, Suarez said, "It just didn't work out. We're back on the market. I don't want to get into details why."

Oh well, I guess it's up to Bobby Jenks to fill the role of beloved rotund reliever this year.

Speaking of whom, Christine wondered if Jenks means the end of Jonathan Papelbon. I guessed no. I even suggested that Papelbon, Daniel Bard and Jenks would be the kinds of arms Theo Epstein wanted for a closer by committee. I hadn't seen Peter Abraham's piece that said Papelbon would have been gone if Mariano Rivera joined the good guys, but that our incumbent closer will remain for now:

Fast forward to yesterday when the Red Sox signed Bobby Jenks to a two-year deal worth $12 million. That's big money for a guy who might pitch a lot in the seventh inning. But it's reasonable money for a guy who could be the closer in July.

Happy holidays, Pap. The Red Sox are sending shots across your bow faster than any of your fastballs.

Team sources said yesterday and again this morning that the Red Sox plan to start the season with Papelbon, Jenks and Daniel Bard in the bullpen. The Phillies have four aces, the Sox will have three closers.

Sounds like an interesting World Series matchup to me.

Big-time bullpen addition

While the mystery continues whether the Red Sox approached Mariano Rivera or he approached them, I'm focused on the facts:

1. I respect Mo, but he's still the enemy, and I enjoy it when the Red Sox beat him.

2. The Red Sox signed an All-Star closer to help Jonathan Papelbon and Daniel Bard close out games.

I admit it. Last night I wasn't thrilled with getting Bobby Jenks and told Trent so. But that's because I fell into the trap of listening to the media harp on conventional stats. Turns out he didn't pitch too poorly last season despite the higher-than-usual ERA.

So, we have a pretty dominant back of the pen. I just hope it's enough to make up the edge the Phillies have in the starting rotation.

***UPDATE*** Christine was grumbling that she would have to edit a post tonight, but since I've written, MLB Network announced that Carlos Ruiz won its X-Factor of the Year Award, beating Pat Burrell. Now she's happy.

Our heads are still spinning

So many thoughts flew through our heads, so little time to get them down.

The surprising return of Cliff Lee is like a good novel full of plot twists that has Philly fans psyched and Yankees fans crying.

The only way to improve that story is if it were true that there was a SoxandPhils trade for Joe Blanton that was motivated by the Red Sox helping the Phillies afford to add their fourth ace to keep him out of the Bronx.

That's probably a little far-fetched, but not so much more far-fetched than the Phillies signing a guy to a $120 million contract just about a year after they traded him away because they didn't think they could re-sign him.

Now, we have to worry about him matching up with Jon Lester in Game 2 of the World Series. I have to admit, I'm a little worried about the Game 4 John Lackey-Roy Oswalt matchup. We'll figure it out. Sox in 7.

Big SoxandPhils addition

Despite my lack of posting, this has been a huge week for the SoxandPhils. And I'm not talking about the blockbuster additions of Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford.

Nope. Bigger. Massive, even.

The Phillies acquired reliever Dennys Reyes. Baseball-Reference generously lists him at 250 pounds, but I think that number misses some of the Grand Slam breakfasts* he's had.

He's a big boy. So big, in fact, that many times in recent years when the Cardinals have been playing the Phillies, I stop to watch him pitch. Actually, if I must confess, I'm staring at his butt. It's huge. He's a big boy, but his rear is a few sizes too big for his frame. It's a freak of nature that I'll enjoy watching all season long.

*If you're wondering why it's safe to assume Reyes has eaten some Grand Slams, check this out from Todd Zolecki:

Asked how he pronounces his name, Reyes once told Cardinals beat writers, "It's Dennys, like the restaurant."

Oh, and yes, Trent and I are excited about the new-look Red Sox, even though there's a tinge of Yankeeism about it.

Image credit: Riverfront Times

Oops

Never mind what I wrote yesterday. Adrian Gonzalez is a Red Sox.

Trent and I are happy, and so is A-Gon:

"I'm very excited to be here in Boston and ready to beat the Yankees."
[...]
Gonzalez said joining the Red Sox is the culmination of a childhood dream.

"I've had five incredible years in San Diego and grew up wanted to be a Padre, and my dream as a kid was to play in the major leagues and be a Padre,'' said Gonzalez after posing for the requisite photo op in his new jersey with Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein and owner John Henry. "And my second dream was to be a Red Sox."

And never mind another thing I wrote yesterday. Christine and I didn't see a clean-shaven, short-haired Jayson Werth at a press conference. We have no clue who it was. We questioned it but should have been more skeptical because the person in question wasn't wearing a Nationals hat or jersey.

Unfortunately for the Nats, they're still on the hook to pay Werth $126 million until he's 39 years old.

What the ...

I had a blog post in my mind and sat down to the computer at noon. It was going to be about how yesterday, when we were asked what team Trent will root for, Christine and I randomly said the Padres, even though we had no clue the Red Sox agreed to a trade with San Diego for Adrian Gonzalez.

Christine told me to hold off on writing until we knew for sure whether he was going to Boston, after the 2 p.m. deadline the teams had set to negotiate a contract extension with Gonzalez. We were all Trent for the rest of the day and after dinner turned on MLB Network in anticipation of seeing A-Gon with a Red Sox hat on.

Nope.

We saw what appeared to be a clean-shaven, short-haired Jayson Werth signing a huge contract with the Nationals. The Nationals? It elicited an out loud "Whaaaat?" from me. Trent was speechless.

I guess no one else was willing to go seven years on the former Phil. And I guess we might be back to Adrian Beltre and possibly Carl Crawford because the Sox didn't come to an agreement with Gonzalez.

But now, Christine has a real reason to root against the Nationals.

It's better than that

When he heard Jason Varitek was re-signed for another year, David Ortiz was thrilled:

"That's great for us," he said. "That's like hearing my brother is back."

It's a million times better than that. Since I retired my Papi T-shirt in July, my Varitek shirt is my only in-date Red Sox shirt (unless you count Jacoby Ellsbury's old No. 46).

So, I'll be current for at least one more year.

Practically, I'm kind of happy he's back as the backup. I wouldn't want him to start, but I think he's more than capable in a backup/mentor role.